SOC 201 Chapter 10: Chapter 10.5
Document Summary
Suppose i trip as i walk into the room. They saw me trip; they must think i am a total clod ; i am embarrassed. But suppose, as is more typical, i enter the room gracefully and spend the class period making some brilliant observations about the nature of society and the importance of sociology. They think i am brilliant and fascinating ; i am proud. Cooley argued that the social self is constructed as a result of this reflective process. According to cooley, we learn to use this looking glass, and thus learn who our selves are, in the intimacy of primary groups especially the family. They are primary in several senses but chiefly in that they are fundamental in forming the social nature and ideals of individuals.
